Wednesday, September 30, 2009

3 rep Deadlift max

Today was not my best day with regards to performance, I only got up to 315, which is a mere 10 pounds heavier than my three rep max two months ago. I also had a very poor showing when it came to core strength. I was able to keep a tight core, and figured out how to push through my heels, but my core wasn't strong enough to keep a straight back. Because I was able to keep core tension my back never hurt, but Jerry told me not to go up in weight at all. Looking at the picture and seeing how much bend there was in my back, I can't blame him, as it looks like a disaster waiting to happen. When you're finding your max, you will encounter some thoracic bend, but this is ridiculous.

This is a little frustrating because when I hit 345 I felt like my core was strong enough to maintain a straight back. Chriss took a video of my 345# lift, and I would really, really like to see it sometime, but so far he hasn't responded to any of my facebook message requests.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Monday, Rest day

An unexpected rest day, but now that I'm done with FGB I'm not sure how much I want to do exercises that will worsen my hip. I still have Dr. Wagner's orders lingering in my ear, and it makes me cautious, even though the surgeon, Dr. Johnson, said crossfit was ok.

Sigh, what to do, what to do.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

FGB IV

Well, last year for FGB III my score was 228, this year it was 246. So I didn't get anywhere near my goal of 300, but it is a 18 point improvement. Honestly, I'm not too happy with this score. I really would hope that after a year my fgb score would go up more than 18 points.

I was really surprised how tired my legs were near the end. I'd like to thank Sean for being there with me the whole time throughout the wod, he was very good at motivating me. I started off with box jumps, and I started out at a pace that was pretty incredible. I've never really figured out how to do box jumps quickly while keeping it up to the standard, until today. I managed to rep out 32 in the first round, but that really wore me out. The Push press was tough as usual, my legs were having issues getting my hips to move that bar up. Row was easy, but the KB high pulls and the wall balls just killed me today. I had no leg strength for hoisting the weight up, and I'm a little frustrated that I couldn't figure out a way to push through. With wall balls, I just felt like I had nothing in the tank for my shoulders. My legs could handle it, but my upper body was having a tough time keeping up. I don't know if I'm just mentally weak, but wods like fgb are really tough for me to improve upon.

Regardless, I'm happy to report that the shoulder and hip are feeling good, and maybe I'll get 300 next year. There's always next year.

EDIT: here is my score by round:
KB High Pull Box Jumps Push Press Row Wall Balls Total
1 25 32 24 15 22 118
2 11 17 13 12 14 65
3 12 17 10 15 9 63

Friday, September 25, 2009

Friday, a 5K that I can't do.

Ugh, last night I banged my foot into the corner of Kristin's suitcase, and the toe next to the pinkie toe is in all kinds of pain. It hurts so much to either curl the toe or extend it that I think I might have broken it, or at least jammed the hell of it. I was hoping that today's wod was something that didn't involve running, as I can't even walk without pain.

Instead, I see today we're doing a 5k. I am sorry but running is something that I simply can not do today. I just hope the toe doesn't affect my box jump skeelz tomorrow with FGB.

Thursday, a real rest day.

Did nothing, and it was tough because it felt like I should be doing something. However, I wanted to give my shoulder some proper rest, and I felt Yoga would've aggravated it.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Front Squat 1 rep max

Well, I came into work so late (11:30) that I decided just to have lunch instead of breakfast. I also forgot to have my snack before the workout (doh!), so I was concerned my lack of food would affect my performance today, and I think it did, as I only got up to 215, and failed twice at 225. I just couldn't find the strength today, when I tried to dig deep I just couldn't dig very far.

My shoulder hurts now, not sure why it would from front squats, perhaps it was from handling the weights? Regardless, I'm cutting off all shoulder exercises until Saturday.

Very annoyed that my shoulder pain is returning, but all I can do is go back to resting it and massage. Might find some one to do ART on it.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Roadhouse, and I got beat up

As a tribute to Patrick Swazye:

"Roadhouse"
400m run
15 power cleans (155#), L sit pull ups, Lou Burpees (two push ups per burpee)
400m run
12 power cleans, L sit, Lou Burpees
400m run
9 power cleans, L sit, Lou Burpees

This one was aweful, think I was DFL again on this one. On my last run, as I was running back to the gym I saw the next class running in their warm up. I'm looking forward to the day were I don't experience this, did it in 34:35.

The cleans were not that tough, but I wanted to get each one perfect because I don't want to aggravate my shoulder, and that slowed me down. The L sit pull ups were tough, but I made sure each one (except for maybe the last one) was chin over the bar with my legs parallel to the floor. I don't think this is tough for my abs or quads (For years now I have a habit of doing an L-sit in my computer chair at home), but it was tough for my arms and shoulders. I think they might have aggrevated the shoulder. I'm a little uncertain if I have pain in my shoulder, it's that slight. But I figure if I'm not sure that I'm not in pain, then I did something to set it off.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

I'm officially a xfit competitor now

I've even got my own profile and everything:

http://www.midatlantichopper.com/MAHC/Competitors/Entries/2009/9/17_Adam_Houston.html

God I am nervous about this.

Saturday wod, this time with Quinton

In preparing to go out to today's wod, Quinton asked if I was going to workout. I told him yes, and that today's workout didn't involve any heavy lifting. He asked if he could come with, and I told him yes. So Quinton got his first taste of crossfit, and it was a five round metcon:

5 rounds,
30 Abmat,
30 Jumping Lunge,
run 400m

I think this was the first time I managed to break the 30 minute barrier for a 5 rounder; did it in 28:39. I was trying hard not to bang my knees with the jumping lunges, and that slowed me down a little.

My running is not that fast, and I keep wondering why. I don't feel like my lungs are burning, and my legs are really burning either. I just can't figure out how to move them faster, now that I'm weighing in over 200#s my legs just feel so much slower. Back when I weighed 175, running didn't really require that much effort muscle-wise, it was always the lungs that gave out first. Now that I'm 30 pounds heavier, things have changed.

Anyway, Quinton had a tough time with this wod, he ended up doing 4 rounds a little over 30 minutes. When he was struggling through his last round, some people were giving him encouragement. I heard him say, "this is my first time you know." To which one supporter said, "Oh my bad, you're built like you've been here for two years!" After wards, he saw Mellisa and LaNette work on handstand push ups, and joined in on the fun. He was able to bang out about five, so he has the strength, but just not the endurance. He did seem very interested, and said that he'll be interested when Jerry comes out with a 2 or 3 times a week plan.

After the workout, Quinton told Jerry, "
Yo! I’m really happy for you, and imma let you finish, but Tae Bo is one of the greatest exercise routines of all time!!!" Jerry, not getting the pop culture reference, made the most plastic smile I've seen and said something like, "Uhh yeah." as he turned back to his laptop. We spent some time explaining the joke and that Quinton wasn't serious.

Quinton was so worn out that he didn't go to his Zuba class.

FGB prep, 5 rounds with 20 second rests

Today was another FGB variant. The WOD:

5 rounds 5 stations 40 seconds of work
on each station, 20 seconds for transition. Wallball, KB High Pull (70#), Box jump, Push Press (70#), and Row

My score was 301, a little less then what I was hoping for (350) I started out strong, as usual, but faded pretty damn quickly. I feel like my fading might be related to not having a strong mental game, I don't know. I definitely felt exhausted at the end of this, I tried getting up a couple of times after time was called and I just couldn't do it. I'm very interested to see how much improvement I've had since last year.

I really need to focus on using my legs on high pulls, as I fatigue I started to use my back a little more, and that ended up not feeling so great. It affects my push press as with pp I have difficulty keeping proper posture, I arch my back, and it is painful. Wall balls are painful as usual, mostly because of my hip.

As I sat down after this wod, I thought about how much pain I was in, and I realized it doesn't have to be this way if I get surgery. I was already mentally prepared for getting it, but now I'm starting to really looking forward to it.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Pushups "Coach Andrea"

Today's WOD was something I thought was pretty awesome:

150 push ups/ 15 pull ups per penalty
120 w/12 pullup penalty
90 w/9 pullup penalty
60 w/6 pullup penalty

I went for 120, knowing push ups are not my strong point. I did 120 push ups and 120 pull ups in 35:40. This was not easy for me. My sets were something like this:

20
15
6
10
10
10
10
9
10
10
10

I was trying to game by not going for max reps, but I thought it would be more than 10. The first two sets were easy, but after that it got hard quick. Now that I'm starting to get back to doing pushups throughout the day, I expect this to get way better, especially since my form has gotten way better after Andrea's correction. My form was good enough to be used as a demo for the class, was pretty proud.

I'm extremely happy my shoulder felt no pain during or after this wod. After I found out that I have chronic tendonitis in my shoulder, for the past month I've been getting myofacial (sp?) and trigger point massage on my shoulder three times a week while supplementing with self-massage, and the shoulder seems to have responded beautifully. I did notice near the end that my pull up mechanic is slightly off with regards to my shoulders. I think this was because I was fatigued and my right shoulder is a little stronger than my left. Regardless, I'm going to keep a look out for asymetrical mechanics, and will try very hard to get everything back to the way it should be.

My next step is to try ring dips and see how those feel, I'm very excited, as this will mean I'm one step closer to getting back to doing muscle-ups.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Yoga, and collecting my thoughts on FAI

So I went to yoga today, and I could definitely tell that my left hip is still full of fluid from the arthogram on Monday. I really do need to work on my posture, as well as my hamstring flexibility. When we were stretching, there was one stretch where my right hip clicked, as usual. Then we did the same stretch on the left, and I felt a small click there as well. I figure there may be some impingement on my left hip as well, but I've never felt any pain from it.

I will meet with Dr. Johnson on the 5th. Until then, I'm a little unsure as to what to do. After looking at my MRI without contrast, Dr. Johnson didn't seem to think that crossfit was such a bad idea. But after seeing the MRI with contrast, Dr. Wagner thinks I should be limited to just bicep curls and elliptical. With two conflicting opinions, what should I do?

I hate being in limbo (I think that's one thing that's really been bothering me), so the decision I've made is to keep doing what I'm doing until I see the surgeon. I may go a little lighter with the strength days, but I really don't think after crossfitting on this hip of mine for 14 months two more weeks will do any more damage. And I think if Dr. Johnson didn't have a problem with crossfit, then crossfit it is.

If Dr. Johnson ends up agreeing with Dr. Wagner, then I'll figure something out while waiting for surgery. But until then, I'm going to keep going.

I got a few sets of push ups in today, I'm really trying to keep my glutes and abs tight throughout like Andrea mentioned, and I think it's going to really pay off.

Good news: no labrum tear. Bad news: it's femoral acetabular impingement

(EDIT: Thankfully I've now found out a cure for the impingement as well I do have a tear, but it's very, very slight. You can read more about it here.)

Just got back from seeing Dr. Wagner, and after looking at my MRI he said I don't have a labrum tear, but I do have femoral acetabular impingement (FAI).

FAI is a what happens when your femur or hip socket is malformed, causing a friction spont in the joint. This friction spot can wear away the cartilige, and can lead to osteoarthritis and eventually a hip replacement.

This daignosis was nothing new, as that's what Dr. Johnson diagnosed in early August. What was new was what Dr. Wagner said I could and couldn't do. Unlike Dr. Johnson, Dr. Wagner said he wanted me to keep exercising (good), but I can't do high impact exercises anymore (bad). The conversation went something like this:

"So no more squats?"
"No, no squats."
"Deadlifts?"
"Definitely not, that's too much weight on you hip."
"Kettle bell swings?"
"I wouldn't do those, you can work your upper body though."
"So I can still do the Jerk or strict press then?"
"No, because you hip is bearing weight."
"Well, what other exercises can I not do?"
"No running either, maybe a little elliptical; cycling is iffy, just don't push yourself and use a recumbent bike. No exercise where you feet leave the ground, either, so no basketball."
"Can I swim?"
"Yes."

Hearing a doctor tell me I can no longer do the things I love crushed me. I knew there is a treatment (surgery), but the way he said it all I could do was focus on the idea of never being able to deadlift or run again, and it scared the bejesus out of me. Given Dr. Wagner's orders, the only exercise I can do is dips, ring rows, push ups, sit ups, Handstand push ups, and pull ups. This could work except for the fact that I'm still finding my limits with my shoulder. If I can't do these exercises until after surgery, I'm not sure how I will be able to crossfit....

I also don't know what to make of Dr. Wagner's opinion that I should no longer do load bearing exercises. Dr. Johnson is a sports doc, and after his FAI diagnosis he didn't seem to think I should stop exercising. Dr. Johnson is also well aware of what I do, I ended up showing him a crossfit video during our meeting.

However, Dr. Johnson never saw the MRI with contrast. Perhaps my hip is worse off than he thought. FIA leads to degenerative diseases, like arthritis, and working out will make it worse. My mother is having her first of two hip replacement surgeries next month, so it's possible this problem is something I've inherited.

Whatever the case, I will have to have arthroscopic surgery to fix this problem. I am going to have to make another appointment with Dr. Johnson, and start talking about my options. I'm not looking forward to having surgery, but it would be way better than a reduction of exercise. Also, from what I understand the FIA untreated will get worse no matter what, and it will only be a matter of time before I need a hip replacement. This surgery may be preventative, although they aren't totally sure about this.

So I don't know what I should do, should I stop crossfitting for now? I just don't know, I need some time to process this...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dealing with inequality and jealousy of others

My hip is still full of fluid and feels unstable, so I made today a rest day (that and this is the last biweek of the fiscal year). So today I’m only working on my push ups.

However, I'd like to talk about something I’ve noticed in workout blogs (including my own): frustration and jealousy. Now, usually I don't experience these feelings, as I keep a pretty good focus on not where I'm at, but where I'm going (e.g. my increase in the deadlift). But I would be lying if I didn't say that I never felt frustrated in almost always being at the back to the pack in met-cons, or that I'm just not as genetically gifted as some. I hope to write about these feelings so that others may relate.

When I started Crossfit a little over a year ago I was definitely one of the weakest and slowest in the class. Because of my difficulty attending morning sessions, I went to the 5pm class, which was comprised of the Capital Jujitsu students. They were already in shape in a met-con sense to some degree, whereas I was only lifting weights and running by myself (and not that effectively). I simply accepted this and figured if I didn't like it than I just have to zone, attend class, get stronger and get faster until I could compete with everyone.

And I've continued to keep this focus, albeit I feel like I should be making better strides in my met-con performance. There are people who are still stronger and faster than me, but I can see the progress (mostly thanks to my blog) and am encouraged to keep going.

But recent events have come up where I feel jealousy and frustration, and I'm quite surprised at my response.

The reason why I joined crossfit was to attain the body of a Greek God, a la 300. Now that I'm in crossfit my goals have shifted more towards performance (sub 5 Fran?), but attaining a great physique is still one of my motivations. I've seen some great changes with crossfit, and I'm as close to a six pack as I've ever been, but something happened, and it has caused a bit of frustration (at least at first).

What happened? Quinton happened, that's what. Who's Quinton, you ask? Well, he's a roommate of mine, and for a while he was pissing me off. For exercise, he would occasionally run. For diet, he doesn't really have breakfast or lunch, but for dinner will have either something like Five Guys or snack on something like pineapple with sugar (he eats mostly carbs). If I did the things he did, I would not be in very good shape, at all. And yet, he has pretty much the physique I'm going for, and the inequity was starting to bother me. I would mollify myself by pointing out that it's not what you're given but what you do with what you've got, that the discipline and dedication I have to my diet and crossfit mattered more than just lying around and looking like I a professional athelete. This argument worked for a while, but then he had to go and start working out. This pic to the right is what he looks like, after one week of working out.

He asked me for help with his diet, because he was “trying to lose some body fat.” And it was at this precise moment when I felt a jolt of jealousy and frustration run through my body. I thought to myself ‘Body fat? Trying to lose body fat?!?!?! You don’t have any body fat Quinton!!! What has he done to deserve his six pack?’ I asked myself, ‘Nothing! Here he is looking all ripped and unhappy while my BF% is a good 8-10% higher and I’m working my ass off.’ I quickly calmed down and told him I would be happy to help (which I was, after the initial shock of negativity). As I walked away, I was surprised and puzzled by my initial reaction.

After processing my feelings, I keep coming back to the original idea that has kept me motivated throughout crossfit: we are not all created equal, there will always be others out there who have an easier time hitting a 400# deadlift, or their first muscle up, or getting a six pack. There is nothing I can do about other’s performances; I only have control over my own actions. Therefore, to worry about how I perform relative to others is useless (although there’s nothing wrong with competing, you hear me Sean?). If I want to be able to deadlift 450# while having a sub 4 Fran and a fgb score of 350, the only way will be to stick to the plan: stay loyal to my diet, attend crossfit, and give each session all that I have. I’m also starting to supplement crossfit with Yoga and possibly swimming.

I should be (and am) happy for Quinton in that he’s wanting to improve, and I will do everything I can to help him. Life is too short to spend time focusing on other people’s accomplishments to the detriment of your own morale. I also recognize that while he might have the physique of an athelete, right now I would probably dominate him in any crossfit WOD (except for one that's push up intensive). Instead of resenting Quinton, I will think of it as inspiration as to where I want to be in a year. I intend to keep up the great work that I’ve done, and will eventually accomplish all of my goals.

Now if you excuse me, I have some push ups that need to be done.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Weighted Chin ups, and an MRI/Arthogram of the hip

So today I had my second MRI of my hip, this time with contrast. This time before the MRI they injected liquid into my hip joint. First they shot me up with lidocaine to numb out the area, then they took this very large and faint-inducing syringe and injected it into my hip, guided by fluoroscopy. There was some pain, but it was very brief and the whole process took less then five minutes.

I'm meeting the newest doc, Dr. Wagner, on Wednesday to go over this, and we'll be able to finally have a definite diagnosis and form a game plan. Hopefully it will only take a few treatments of prolotherapy to get me right, I don't want to have to deal with surgery.

I'm also excited about the idea that Dr. Wagner will also be able to help me with my shoulder. However, right now my shoulder is feeling no pain, and every time I push it it responds well. I will continue to be conservative in returning to working out, but I can now add weighted chins to the mix. And with that, today's WOD:

Weighted Chins: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

I only got up to 58#, I can't find it but I think my max is 63#, but given that I'm just starting to get the shoulder back in the game I'll take it.

It was a good thing that we did chins today, as the doc told me I can't do any hip-related workout like running for 2-3 days. Right now my joint is filled with fluid, and is thus unstable. After I was done with the chins I did some push ups and light hang cleans. Andrea helped me with my push up form. Apparently I let my back bend, and this arch causes all kinds of problems. I think this arch is related to problems I have with my posture, as well as push press. My shoulder is doing so well, I'm going to start re-instituting my grease the groove, and will try to do at least 5 sets of 10 push ups throughout the day.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

I Attend a Saturday Workout?!??!?!?!

Kind of scary, I've attended the saturday wod two times now in like three weeks (I attended the group wod on 08-22-09).

Attending was tough because my lats and quads were so sore. I was tempted to just call it a rest day, but I remember xfitting 5-6 days a week resulting in getting pretty defined, so back on the wagon I go.

I'm glad I attended, but damn it was tough:

3 rounds
800m run
20 burbees
30 pull ups
40 double unders (I did 60 lateral hops)

This took me just over 56 min to finish. The first round took 15, then finished the second round at around 35 minutes, then obviously the last round was a tough one.

Running is not easy for me right now. Considering that I'm now weighing in at 210, up about 15-20 pounds more than what I weighed about a year ago, I'm not too surprised. I am surprised that I'm gaining weight on the zone, but my legs have also gotten waaaay stronger, so it makes sense.

I tried to not let the burbees hurt my shoulder, and I succeeded. Same with the pull ups. I guess I should be happy that I can now do these things without pain, but it can be tough not to focus on what I'm lacking. The mid-Atlantic hopper is coming up, and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone else.

I also wish I could do more than one double under at a time as well, but I can't seem to find my rhythm. Sigh, some day I'll figure it out, just have to keep trying.

Another positive note concerning my mental game: For sure it was weak today (as it always is with these long met-cons), but when I was doing my last set of pull ups a little voice in the back of my head said, "say why don't you do half? You still don't know how your shoulder is doing, you should quit while you're still ahead." However, my shoulder felt fine, no sign of pain whatsoever. I wasn't attempting to be cautious, I was attempting to be lazy.

So I finished the workout without reducing any of the numbers, and my shoulder feels fine. This is pretty awesome, I just hope I don't mess it up and set myself back a few weeks. Also, I am having my second MRI, this time with contrast, on Monday. I'm a little nervous about injecting the hip joint with something, but if it's the only way to find out an answer, so be it.

Friday, September 11, 2009

FGB prep, a tribute to those fallen in 9/11

Today we did FGB as a task oriented as opposed to time oriented wod:

Wallball, High Pull, Box Jump, Push Press, Row

Elite: 3 rounds: 40,30,20
Pro: 3 rounds: 35,25,15
Pack: 3 rounds: 30,20,10

Because my legs are still feeling weak, I decided to go with the pack. I think this was refreshingly easy of sorts, I wanted to work on increasing the intensity and keeping mental focus. My time was 25:00 flat, but I know I can do way better, more like 22:00.

I absolutely flew through the box jumps, I found my grove, and I could jump up and down a LOT faster than normal.

The push press was difficult, I still have a hard time not arching my back. Andrea commented this stems from over doing the head-through motion when you try to achieve active shoulder. However, I think I'm making some progress here, and when I finally get it right it will make thrusters oh so much easier and will lower my Fran time significantly.

The row was eh, almost had it down to one stroke a calorie, so like the 10 calories took only 34 seconds.

Wall balls suck. My quads were fried and I had a hard time getting my head back in the game to really push myself on this one.

Concerning the High pulls, I was afraid the 70# would hurt my shoulder so I went light with the 53#. Didn't really have a problem with these, but they weren't fun.

For those of you reading who want to see what it takes to get a great score in FGB, here's a vid of two of some of CFOT's best athletes getting very respectable scores:



Stacey, in the video, is always one of the first to finish. I, on the other hand, am usually one of the last to finish. Around the time FGB came around last year she started coming over to me and doing the workout over again, next to me, in an effort to motivate me.

Today I saw Judy struggling a little bit near the end of her workout, and I saw some of myself in her. So I walked over, grabbed a wall ball, and told her that we were going to finish this together. We finished up the wod (she actually was a lot faster than me on the high pulls, btw) and afterward talked about how difficult this workout can be.

This is, to me, is what we should all strive to do in life: not just achieve success in what we hold dear, but to take that success and help others reach their goals as well.

Rest Day, Yoga

So on Thursday I did Yoga again. It's a very different from crossfit in terms of it's emphasis on lengthening the muscles while stretching. However, after those tabata squats the warrior poses was really, really difficult to hold. ...I really seem to do well with the balancing poses, like standing on one leg. It can be hard to calm and settle my mind (always thinking about something), but change of pace is good.

I could definitely feel weakness when trying to hold downward dog, but I wouldn't say it was pain. Hopefully if I keep this up everything will get more symmetrical. Holding the poses also seems to work at strength endurance, not my forte.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Tabata Squats and upper body

Now that we're getting ready for Fight Gone Bad, we're doing a little be more met-con, and today I felt like was the quintessential crossfit wod:

2 rounds of:
4 min Tabata squats
4 min AMRAP muscle ups
4 min rest

I had to sub out for the MU's so I did the 5 pull ups, and then I did 5-10 push ups for each MU. I don't think the shoulder is ready for dips yet, so I did push ups, and then started doing pushups on my knees since I was afraid of hurting my shoulder. I think my scores were 66/60 for the rounds, 11 squats X 6 rounds of "MU"'s and 12 squats X 5 rounds. pretty sad, really.

As I write this I think I'm experiencing some discomfort in the shoulder, so I'm stopping shoulder work for the rest of the week just to be safe. It's easy for me to cut it out completely, or hit it hard, but easing back into it is difficult. I get excited that I can do something, so I want to push myself. Hopefully next week I'll do a better job of easing into them.

I miss doing a muscle up. The day I hit mine was the happiest day of my life. Seriously, graduating, getting my first car, vacation in Hawaii, ...no other time can I think of where I couldn't stop smiling FOR THE ENTIRE DAY. I was so amped, I want that feeling again. Unfortunately, I think the muscle up was the very exercise that really aggravated the shoulder, ah irony.

Last catch up post, Tuesday's Push Press

Tuesday the WOD was:

Push press: 3,3,3,1,1,1,1

I knew better than to push the shoulder, but the pain free hang cleans excited me to try doing some work, so I did 3-4 sets of 5 reps of 95. On the last round, I felt the ghost of a something-not-right feeling in my shoulder, so I stopped.

On one hand I was sad to stop, on the other hand I was happy I could do something like this. There wasn't any pain or numbness afterwards, I think I stopped at a great time. ...I can't wait to get this shoulder fixed, I see the doc again next Thursday or Friday.

On another note, I will be getting my second and hopefully final MRI Monday, where I will have contrast injected into my hip joint. Not really looking forward to the procedure, but very much looking forward to information it will provide.

Catch up post, First Friday

I decided to try to break the CFOT record for 500m row. My legs were barking at me from the time I woke up, so I really didn't feel like I had a lot of gas in the tank. Regardless, I wanted to try to see where I'm at. I ended up getting it in 1:34.0, but I was dead near the end, it was brutal.

Even so, since it was a workout that was under 2 min, I decided to try a light version of DT, using 115. I was still gassed from the row, so the hang cleans wore me out. However, I was very happy to find that I could do them without pain, and I didn't hurt afterwards either. My time was 17: something, I was just happy I could do the workout.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Rest day, of sorts.

Saw that today was 1 rep cleans, so I decided I should listen to my throbbing legs and take a rest. However, it was a rest from xfit, but not exercise. I decided to try out the Thursday yoga class at the pto gym, and am very happy I did so. A lot of my injuries will result in imbalance of strength, so doing all those yoga poses will help gain symmetry in strength and flexibility.

I was the only dude in the class, of course, but I felt like I held my own with most flexibility poses, and my core was more then able to take on the balance and strength needed for transitions from one positions to another. I definitely think this will be a staple in my routine, as it offers so many medicinal benefits.

Catch up: Wednesday

Wednesday we did a met-con, and after being pain free for 2.5 weeks the Chiro said I could start introducing LIGHT exercise back into the mix. So when I saw the WOD, I got excited:

3 rounds
20 ring dips
20 wall balls
600m run

Ring dips are still waaay too intensive for my shoulder, so what I did was 10 push ups and 10 ring rows instead. Time was something like 22:07. I felt my shoulder catch a little as I lowered myself to the ground the first couple of times, but I didn't feel any pain during or after wards. Obviously, this is great, great news. I will continue to tread very, VERY lightly when doing stuff that used to hurt, but it feel good to finally do SOMETHING that I used to not be able to.

Catch up: Tuesday's workout Front Squat Max

Ok so since coming back from vacay it's taking a while to get back into the rhythm with work, xfit, and blogging. So to catch up, Tuesday's workout:

Front squat:
2-2-2-1-1-1

This one was pretty awesome, I've never found my one rep max before, but my 5 rep max is 185.
I attempted 245, but ended up dropping the bar because I went down too quickly. I scaled it down to 225 and had much better results.

Here's some pics from the day:
The Approach: I know it sounds cheesy, but I try to make my approach the same time every time. It helps me get into a rhythm, places me in the zone and helps me focus. I get my grip, assume this position, take three big breaths, and address the bar.

One thing I am very proud of is my technique with the squat. Torn labrum be damned, my martial arts background has helped tremendously with my squat. For example, the picture here shows me driving through the hole, I've got decent elbow position, I'm not leaning forward at all, keeping core tension, and the crease of the hip is just below the patella. I think I see a slight bend in the bar, but that could just be wishful seeing.





There is an issue with balance of strength. With my right hip in pain, it's a little harder to push my right leg, plus my dominant leg is my left leg (although I'm right handed, go figure) so my left leg is stronger than my right. This imbalance in strength is what is causing the left side of the bar to be higher, as my left leg is extending more than my right. Hopefully Yoga (more on that later) will help make my strength more symmetrical, and maybe the prolotherapy will help as well.

All in all it was a good day, I think if I hadn't jumped from 205 to 245 and failed I would have hit some heavier weight. But now that I'm more familiar with my one rep front squat max, my game plan will be much, much better. Perhaps I'll be able to improve my max as much as I've improved my deadlift. That would be nice.